2009 MAZDA MODEL TRIBUTE Owners Manual (in English)

The head restraints can be moved
up and down.
Push control to lower head restraint.
Folding down rear seats (60/40 split bench)1. Raise the rear seat head restraint and remove.
2. Place the head restraint under the front seat for storage.
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3. Pull the seat release control.
NOTE: Make sure the floor is clear of all objects before folding the seat.
4. Flip seat forward.
Attach the seat belt web snap
button to the quarter trim panel
snap button. This will assure that
seatbelt does not get caught by
staying out of the seat back folding
path.
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5. To release seatback, pull theseatback release lever (on top
of seat) toward the front seat.
NOTE: When the seatback release
lever is pulled, slowly lower
seatback to the flat position.
6. Rotate seatback down into load floor position.
Returning the rear seats to upright position 1. Pull seatback up and into upright position making sure
seatback locks into place.
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2. Rotate seat cushion down intothe seating position making sure
that the seat cushion is locked
into place and the RED seat
unlatched indicator on release
paddle is not visible.
WARNING: Make sure seat
belt buckle heads are
through elastic holders on seat
backs. Seat belt buckle heads may
break if they are trapped
underneath the seatback as the
seatback is rotated down.
WARNING: Before returning the seatback to its original
position, make sure that cargo or any objects are not trapped
underneath the seatback. After returning the seatback to its original
position, pull on the seatback to ensure that it has fully latched. An
unlatched seat may become dangerous in the event of a sudden stop or
collision.
3. Remove the head restraints stored under the front
passenger seat and return them
to the original position on the
seat backs.
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To remove the rear cushion1. Lift the yellow tab to release the hinges.
2. Pull the cushion to the outboard side of the vehicle.
To install the rear cushion 1. Insert rod ends into floor mounting points and push the
cushion to the inboard side of
the vehicle.
2. Make sure that the hinges are locked into place.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Personal Safety System 
The Personal Safety System provides an improved overall level of
frontal crash protection to front seat occupants and is designed to help
further reduce the risk of airbag-related injuries. The system is able to
analyze different occupant conditions and crash severity before activating
the appropriate safety devices to help better protect a range of
occupants in a variety of frontal crash situations.
Your vehicle’s Personal Safety System consists of:
• Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints.
• Front seat belts with pretensioners (front row only), load limiter
(front row only), and seat belt usage sensors (front row only).
• Front passenger sensing system
• “Passenger airbag off” or “pass airbag off” indicator lamp
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•Front crash severity sensor.
• Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors.
• Restraint system warning light and back-up tone.
• The electrical wiring for the airbags, crash sensor(s), seat belt
pretensioners, front seat belt usage sensors, driver seat position
sensor, front passenger sensing system, and indicator lights.
How does the Personal Safety System work?
The Personal Safety System can adapt the deployment strategy of your
vehicle’s safety devices according to crash severity and occupant
conditions. A collection of crash and occupant sensors provides
information to the Restraints control module (RCM). During a crash, the
RCM may activate the seat belt pretensioners and/or either one or both
stages of the dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints based on crash
severity and occupant conditions.
The fact that the pretensioners or airbags did not activate for both front
seat occupants in a collision does not mean that something is wrong with
the system. Rather, it means the Personal Safety System determined
the accident conditions (crash severity, belt usage, etc.) were not
appropriate to activate these safety devices. Front airbags and
pretensioners are designed to activate only in frontal and near-frontal
collisions, not rollovers, side-impacts, or rear-impacts unless the collision
causes sufficient longitudinal deceleration.
Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints
The dual-stage airbags inflation energy is tailored to crash severity, belt
use, driver seat position, and other factors. A lower, less forceful energy
level is provided for more common, moderate-severity impacts. A higher
energy level is used for the most severe impacts unless the driver’s seat
is forward for a small occupant. Refer to Airbag supplemental
restraints section in this chapter.
Front crash severity sensor
The front crash severity sensor enhances the ability to detect the
severity of an impact. Positioned up front, it provides valuable
information early in the crash event on the severity of the impact. This
allows your Personal Safety System to distinguish between different
levels of crash severity and modify the deployment strategy of the
dual-stage airbags and seat belt pretensioners.
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Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety Systemto
tailor the deployment level of the driver dual-stage airbag based on seat
position. The system is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting
close to the driver airbag by providing a lower airbag output level.
Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, like infants
in rear-facing child seats, this occurs because they are initially sitting
very close to the airbag. For other occupants, this occurs when the
occupant is not properly restrained by seat belts or child safety seats and
they move forward during pre-crash braking. The most effective way to
reduce the risk of unnecessary injuries is to make sure all occupants are
properly restrained. Accident statistics suggest that children are much
safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the
front.
WARNING: Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active air
bag. If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move
the seat all the way back.
WARNING: When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position.
The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the
passenger front airbag. The system is designed to help protect small
(child size) occupants from airbag deployments when they are
improperly seated or restrained in the front passenger seat contrary to
proper child-seating or restraint usage recommendations. Even with this
technology, parents are STRONGLYencouraged to always properly
restrain children in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the passenger
front airbag and passenger seat-mounted side airbag (if equipped) when
the passenger seat is empty.
When the front passenger seat is occupied and the sensing system has
turned off the passenger’s frontal airbag, the “pass airbag off” indicator
will light and stay lit to remind you that the front passenger frontal
airbag is off. See Front passenger sensing system in the airbags section
of this chapter.
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Front seat belt usage sensors
The front seat belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger seat belts are fastened. This information allows
your Personal Safety Systemto tailor the airbag deployment and seat
belt pretensioner activation depending upon seat belt usage. Refer to
Safety restraints section in this chapter.
Front seat belt pretensioners
The seat belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the seat belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during frontal collisions, and in side collisions and rollovers when the
vehicle is equipped with the side-curtain airbag system. This helps
increase the effectiveness of the seat belts. In frontal collisions, the seat
belt pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the collision is of
sufficient severity, together with the front airbags.
Seat belt load limiter
The front and rear outboard seat belt load limiter allows webbing to be
pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled manner in
response to the occupant’s forward momentum. This helps reduce the
risk of force-related injuries to the occupant’s chest by limiting the load
on the occupant. Refer to Load limiter featuresection in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety System is operational
The Personal Safety System uses a warning light in the instrument
cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to the Warning light section in theInstrument cluster chapter. Routine
maintenance of the Personal Safety System is not required.
The Restraints control module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
seat belt pretensioners, front seat belt buckle sensors, driver seat
position sensor, and front passenger sensing system. In addition, the
RCM also monitors the restraints warning light in the instrument cluster.
A malfunction with the system is indicated by one or more of the
following.
• The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
• The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
• A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
2009 Tribute (j14)
Owners Guide, 1st Printing
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Seating and Safety Restraints
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